Gilmore Boy
by DelicateOcelot
Summary: Post AYITL. SPOILERS. Ten months after the birth of her son, Rory starts to feel like she has the motherhood thing figured out. Her son is healthy, her book has been picked up to be published and her prospects are looking good. What happens when a familiar face shows up at her door? The week that follows.
1. Introduction

"Mom"

"Yeah?"

"I'm pregnant."

Lorelai went to put her bottle of champagne down and then promptly lifted it again. She filled her glass and gulped its contents. She filled it again. The liquid rapidly bubbled toward the rim, hugging the edges of the glass as it threatened to overfill.

"Are you celebrating?" asked Rory. Her eyes studied her mother. Lorelai didn't falter.

"Are we?" Lorelai tipped her glass toward Rory and waited. Rory shifted her gaze. She stared intently at her hands, as if she might find the answer in between her cold fingers.

Lorelai reached out, took her daughter's hand into her own and squeezed gently. Rory looked up and met her gaze. Rory stared blankly at her mother and remained silent.

"Who's the father?" asked Lorelai quietly. Her voice was soft and without judgment but the cadence was uneven and uncomfortable.

"Logan."

"You're positive?"

"I'm positive," responded Rory quickly. She pulled her hand away to fidget with the hem of her sweater. Her fingers retreated into the soft burgundy sweater.

"Does he know?"

"No."

"Give me something to work with here, kid," encouraged Lorelai. She set the champagne aside, moving closer to Rory on the gazebo until their sides were touching. "I'm here for you. Whatever you need. Talk to me."

Rory sunk her head into her mother's shoulder. Her face was stoic. Lorelai instinctively wrapped her arm around Rory. They sat in silence for a long moment, watching the town hum around them. People offered their polite congratulations on the wedding as they passed, but gave the pair their space.

"You're the first person I told. It makes it feel…" Rory trailed off, showing no interest in finishing her sentence.

"Let's get inside." Lorelai helped her daughter to her feet. "Let's get some – let's go get some hot chocolate."

* * *

Rory and Lorelai sat at the kitchen table with two steaming mugs of hot chocolate and a half empty bag of marshmallows sitting between them. As Lorelai methodically launched marshmallows into Rory's hot chocolate, the warmth from the mug seemed to bring Rory back to life.

"I just found out," volunteered Rory, chasing the words with a large sip of hot chocolate. "Well, I found out a few weeks ago. I wanted to wait. I didn't want to ruin anything for you. I didn't want to ruin your wedding. I didn't - "

"You've kept this to yourself for a few weeks?"

"I just didn't want to -"

"You've kept this to yourself three – four weeks?!" exclaimed Lorelai, slapping the table in her exaggerated surprise. The mugs shook dangerously, threatening to spill the hot liquid onto the table. "You should have told me, Rory."

"I didn't want - "

"You're not ruining anything," insisted Lorelai.

"I haven't told Logan yet," repeated Rory.

"When are you going to?"

"Should I?" queried Rory. "It's all messed up, Mom."

"Rory - "

"What do I do? Just call him up and say, 'Hey Logan, I know we said our goodbyes to each other for forever and had one last great night together and all and that was great, and now from that one last great night together, I'm having your child, but you're still engaged to your beautiful French heiress fiancé that your family adores and…'"

"Well that's a start. Maybe add a breath in there somewhere, but a great start," responded Lorelai.

Rory's hands cradled her head, massaging the front of her forehead. "What do I do?"

"What do you want to do?"

Rory paused, gathering her thoughts and spinning her mug on the table. She watched the marshmallows bobble in the hot liquid, slowly melting into a white froth. Delaying, she added another marshmallow to the mug.

"I don't need him," she said slowly, gauging her mother's reaction. "He doesn't have to be involved. I mean, I don't _not_ want him to be involved. But he doesn't have to be involved. He doesn't have to end things with Odette. I don't want to force him to raise this child. This doesn't have to change anything."

"Rory, this will change everything," insisted Lorelai. "Whether you want it to change or not, things are going to change."

"So, what do I do?"

"You figure out what you want. You call him. You tell him."

"I just call him?"

Lorelai nodded. "He deserves to at least know."

"Even if it ruins everything?"

"What's the alternative? Your kid hunts him down a decade from now for some science fair project?" retorted Lorelai, bitterness seeping into her warning. She forced a laugh, recognizing the rising tension. "It's not as fun as it sounds."

Rory picked up her phone abruptly. Her fingers trembled as she tapped the screen.

"What are you doing?" continued Lorelai.

"Calling him."

"Calling Logan?"

"Calling Logan," confirmed Rory.

"Right now?" exclaimed Lorelai, grabbing for Rory's phone. "Don't you think you should think this through?"

"Right now." Rory held the phone to her face, pushing Lorelai's hands away from the phone. "Before I talk myself out of it."

"Are you sure?" questioned Lorelai.

"Sh!" hushed Rory, before her face turned into complete panic. "His voicemail – what do I do?"

"Leave a message!" encouraged Lorelai. "No! Hang up!"

The phone beeped.

"I – uh – Hey, Logan. It's Rory. Rory Gilmore. I was just calling to – uh – We need to talk. Oh – uh – don't panic. Nothing bad. Or – uh - We just –um – I'm pregnant," blurted Rory. She pulled the phone away from her face, her eyes wide with frenzy. She took a deep breath and returned the phone to her ear. "Sorry. I didn't mean to tell you like that. Look, you don't have to have any responsibility in this. I just wanted you to know. That's it. Call me back, and we can talk about this. Sorry."

She hung up the phone and crumbled onto the table. She pulled her arms over her head, hiding her face in a mess of hair and limbs.

"Mom," she called, her words muffled by her arms.

"I know, sweetie. I know."


	2. Thursday

"Ma-ma-ma-ma-ma-ma-ma."

Rory turned toward the baby balanced on her hip who was wrapped in an oversized blue raincoat. The blue blob tugged at the tiny rain boots that had taken five screaming minutes for Rory to put on. Impossibly, a tuft of yellow hair found freedom from the hood of the coat that was plastered onto the baby's head with rain.

"It's okay, Charlie. We're almost there," cooed Rory, grabbing at her son's desperate fingers as he tried to free his feet from their restraints. She clutched him closer, trying to protect him from the rain. Thunder echoed in the distance as Rory danced between the puddles that gathered on the sidewalk.

"Rory!" exclaimed Luke as the pair burst through the door to Luke's Diiner. "It's horrible out!"

"Is it?" Rory began to peel the soaking layers off Charlie first, and then herself, once she got him situated in a high chair. Once free of the coat, Charlie happily returned to the trying task of removing his boots while making eyes at the diner's other guests. He cooed as a woman at a nearby table waved at him.

Luke approached the table with two mugs of steaming liquid in hand. "What's the plan for today?"

"I'm not sure," responded Rory easily, checking to make sure her son was strapped securely into his chair. "Binge watch movies…junk food… basically a whole weekend crammed into a day."

"You two are always welcome to stay at the house," encouraged Luke, looking affectionately toward Charlie. "It wouldn't be a problem at all."

"Thank you." Rory smiled in appreciation. "It's just easier with Charlie in the apartment. And it's not that bad a drive anyway. And we have to be in New York early tomorrow."

"Can I?" asked Luke, motioning toward Charlie

"Of course," answered Rory. She unstrapped the baby from his high chair and handed him toward Luke. She teased, "Here you go, Grandpa Luke."

"So New York? Do you have a meeting tomorrow?" asked Luke, lifting Charlie above his head. Charlie shrieked in excitement. Luke made motor noises as he shifted Charlie back and forth. Rory couldn't help but smile at how fully Luke had embraced her son.

"I'm meeting Jess in the morning to go over some notes and then, yeah, meeting with the editors."

"Oh, yeah. Jess mentioned that the book was good – great. No wonder it got picked up so fast." Luke studied Rory's reaction. She smiled uncomfortably under his gaze, ducking her head toward the table.

"It still needs a lot of work. Jess is helping a lot," diverted Rory.

"How is he? Jess. I haven't heard from him in a while," pressed Luke as he returned Charlie to his high chair. He fumbled unsuccessfully with the straps. "These things really are child proof, huh?"

"Jess is busy," admitted Rory. She leaned over to help keep Charlie in the chair while Luke continued to fumble. "He's helping a lot, though. It's nice to have someone be able to read it and not completely slash it to pieces all at once."

"No, no," disagreed Luke. "I'm sure it's great, Rory. When do we get to read it?"

Rory laughed uncomfortably. "Not until it's done."

"Well, I expect an autographed copy," insisted Luke, as he retreated behind the bar.

Rory pulled out a disheveled looking book from a backpack crammed too full with belongings. She passed a pacifier to her son and put a can of Gerber Puffs on the table. Charlie struggled to get the pacifier into his mouth. She flipped a few pages into the book; the page had been dog – eared repeatedly.

Rory had hardly managed to read two paragraphs between repeated bouts of fixing the pacifier for her son before the door flew open again.

"There's the most handsome man!" cooed Lorelai as she rushed toward Charlie. Luke made a mock offended gesture from behind the bar. She freed him from his chair and lifted him into her arms. "He's gotten so big!"

"Mom," chastised Rory, "you just saw him a week ago."

"A whole week! I can hardly lift him!" exclaimed Lorelai dramatically as she made faces toward her grandson. Charlie laughed in encouragement. "When are you moving back to Stars Hollow? We don't see you two enough."

"We're not that far away," reminded Rory, used to her mother's pressure to move back home.

"Will you show him a picture of me every night, so he won't forget what I look like?" pestered Lorelai.

"It's just easier for work."

Luke appeared back at the table with a plate of pancakes. "Want anything else?"

Lorelai smiled. "12 more pancakes, 2 more coffees – take the caffeine from hers and put it in mine - a pyramid of donuts to rival the Egyptian ones - "

"Let me know when you figure it out," interjected Luke as he returned to his other customers.

Lorelai returned her attention to Charlie, bouncing him in her arms. "You want to come live in Stars Hollow with me, don't you, Charlie?"

"What's the plan?" asked Rory.

"Well, you two could move back into your old room immediately. It'd be a little cramped for a bit, but we'd make do. And then we could start the house search," began Lorelai. "Somewhere with a nice back yard for Charlie and - "

"What's the plan for today?" rephrased Rory.

Lorelai sighed dramatically. She returned Charlie to his high chair and turned her focus on the pancakes and coffee. "I just figured we'd sit around and stare at Charlie for a while. He's guaranteed to be twice as big by tonight."

Lorelai took a sip of coffee and made a face and switched her mug with Rory's. "How do you drink that stuff? It's not even coffee."

"You can't even taste the difference," exclaimed Rory.

"Maybe your unrefined palette can't," countered Lorelai. She took a large sip of her new mug of coffee. She smiled smugly.

"So what are we doing?" repeated Rory. She poured some of the puffs onto the table in front of the highchair for Charlie before putting a pancake onto her plate.

Lorelai took a puff from Charlie and popped it into her mouth. "We have every snack you can dream of at home – even some of those juice pouches that Charlie likes. I rented Annie Hill and Casa Blanca. Pedicures. You telling me every detail of your life. More junk food. And if the rain clears up, I can even give you a tour of the town."

"I'm sure a lot has changed in the last week."

"Oh, you wouldn't believe it. They completely changed the flowers they planted this year. You won't even be able to find your way back to the house."

"How's the new Inn?"

"The Tigertail?" asked Lorelai proudly. "Complete insanity. Someone should have told me what a horrible idea it was to open a second Inn before cloning technology has been further advanced."

"How's Michel holding up?"

"He won't let go of the spa idea," responded Lorelai. "He seems happier with all the chaos, though. We have a few suites he's organizing. He has a weird obsession the new mini-fridges. Not to mention that more rooms means more people for him to be annoyed at. And Theo keeps him busy. I swear, that kid never get tired. They must feed him a diet of pure sugar. I guess I just assumed all toddlers were like you. I've never even seen him blink!"

"Not even once?"

"Just think, soon you'll be chasing little Charlie around, threatening to send him off to boarding school and take away his organic, gluten free dessert."

"I can hardly wait."

* * *

Rory pulled into the apartment complex. Charlie was asleep in the back seat. She quietly closed the door to the car and went around back to carefully extract the sleeping baby from his car seat. She held her breath as she removed each limb from its restraint. Miraculously, he slept through the whole process. Balancing him on her side, she swung her bag over her shoulder and started toward the stairs.

The apartment complex was quiet. The parking lot lights buzzed in the background of muffled chatter behind closed doors. The nights were finally starting to warm up.

The apartment complex opened to the outside. Three stories of small brick apartments were stacked on top of each other with flights of stairs on either end. Far to the right was a small playground equipped with swings, a rusty jungle gym and animals on springs. The humble place hid its age well.

She had made it up the one flight of stairs that lead to her apartment before a car alarm went off unprovoked. Rory jumped and Charlie startled awake. He stared at her with big blue eyes heavy with sleep and his mouth open in shock.

"It's okay, Charlie. It's okay," she whispered reassuringly, bouncing him slightly in her arms. The car alarm continued to echo, but Charlie seemed more perplexed than bothered. Rory rounded the corner and walked briskly three doors down, fumbling with her keys the whole time. "Almost home. It's been a long day, huh?"

With the right key in hand, Rory managed to get the door open without shifting Charlie around too much. The door swung open, revealing the dimly lit modest apartment.

The living room had an old couch shoved in the corner across from a small blocky television. In front of the couch was a table piled with haphazardly organized papers with notes and highlighter marks all across. Amongst the pages, a laptop could hardly be made out.

"Time to get you to bed, Charlie?" cooed Rory, dropping her bag carelessly on the floor while simultaneously checking Charlie's diaper. She moved toward his room.

A wall separated the kitchen from the living room. The carpet changed to off white linoleum. A round table was centered in the kitchen. On three sides were counters with cabinets above and below with the stovetop oven and refrigerator squeezed tightly in between cabinets.

One door was directly across from the kitchen, while a short hallway led a few steps toward two other doors. Rory moved into the door across from the kitchen.

Charlie's room was the smaller of the two with a crib placed next to the window and a rocking chair in the corner. Toys sat on shelves against a wall next to a pack and play. Otherwise, it was bare with white walls and no decorations. Unpacked boxes laid crammed in a corner.

Rory carefully placed Charlie in his crib, and silently turned on the baby monitor. She quietly scuffled along the thick carpet. She left the door cracked and went to the retrieve the other half of the baby monitor.

Once settled, she began unpacking dishes from the dishwasher, sorting them into what was needed for the next day. The majority of what was washed was baby bottles. She began to separate each of the pieces into piles.

There was a knock at the door. Rory jumped slightly, startled from her thoughts. A quick check to the baby monitor revealed that Charlie was undisturbed. She tapped her phone once and it displayed the time: 11:48.

Under any other circumstance, Rory would have been in bed hours ago. Charlie had begun to sleep through the night, but was up inhumanly early in the morning. Rory had a feeling her mother had purposefully delayed them in an attempt to get her to spend the night,

Rory walked toward the door. She wasn't expecting anyone and immediately ran through all the scenarios of who could be at the apartment so late.

"Hey, Ace."

Rory stared blankly at the man in front of her. He stood in khakis and a light blue button up shirt with the top three buttons undone, revealing his white undershirt; the collar was wrinkled. He stood in front of her empty handed with not even a backpack on.

"Logan," Rory said slowly. "Is everything okay?"

Rory couldn't fathom a scenario that landed him on her doorstep at twelve o'clock at night on a Thursday. They hadn't spoken since they said their goodbyes and her mind began to fill with the worse scenarios possible.

"It's been a long day," stated Logan. He stepped forward into the light revealing his tired expression. "Long days? It feels like I've been up for weeks."

Rory stared at him.

He flashed her a hesitant smile. "So…can I come in?"

"Yeah," Rory responded slowly, stepping out of the way and making room for him to enter. Instinctively, she positioned herself between the door to Charlie's bedroom and Logan. She studied Logan, her annoyance and anger she didn't realize she had held onto was growing quickly.

Logan glanced around the living room and took a seat on the couch. He motioned to the scattered papers. "Is this where you write?"

"Make shift office for now," responded Rory, feeling suddenly embarrassed. She moved toward the coffee table and began gathering the various papers. The apartment was nothing like what they had lived in in college. Rory guessed that the whole apartment could have easily fit inside the living room of their apartment they shared. "It's a temporary thing."

"So this is where the famous Rory Gilmore works," praised Logan. He waited for a response but nothing came.

"It's nice," complimented Logan. "Seems like a quiet neighborhood. Well lit."

"Yeah." Rory continued to stand, clutching the stack of papers to her chest. She continued to stare.

Logan studied the living room intently, but couldn't seem to find what he was looking for.

"What are you doing here, Logan?" Rory asked softly. She was surprised at how well she hid her accusatory feelings. The situation made her nervous, but she couldn't figure out why.

"I should have called before I came," admitted Logan suddenly, shifting uneasily on the couch. "I don't know why I didn't. I just felt like I needed to talk to you in person, and I wasn't sure what you'd say on the phone."

Logan waited for a reaction, for a question, for something, but Rory just continued to stare.

"Can I get some water?" he asked abruptly and stood.

"Sure." Rory turned and lead him toward the kitchen. Suddenly, she realized she'd been holding her breath. She tried to steady herself as she went to a cabinet to grab him a cup.

Rory turned around, and Logan was holding one of Charlie's bottles in his hands.

"I have regular cups, too," joked Rory, forcing a smile as she filled the cup from the sink.

"So it's true?" Logan asked.

"What's true?" Rory offered him the cup of water, and Logan put the bottle down.

"Can I see the baby?" Logan stared at Rory. Logan's expression was unreadable. Rory's heart raced again at the mention of Charlie.

"Are you okay?"

"Please," Logan implored, stepping toward her but ignoring the water still in her hand.

"He's asleep." Rory suddenly wanted Logan gone.

"I'll be quiet. I won't wake him," promised Logan desperately. "Please."

"You should come back tomorrow."

"Just let me see my son, Ace."

"Did you even know you had a son until today?" snapped Rory. "It could have been triplet girls for all you knew."

Rory instantly felt embarrassed. She didn't want to act that way. She had come to terms with the situation a long time ago. She turned toward the counter to hide her face under the guise of assembling baby bottles.

"I didn't know I had a kid until today."

"What?" snapped Rory. She took a deep breath, gathering herself. "I called you. I told you. I didn't expect you to drop everything, Logan, but I did think you'd at least call me back and be an adult about it."

"Look - "

"Logan, it's fine. We're good here. You can see him tomorrow - "

"I didn't know. I never got the message. I would have called. You know I would have called. You have to know that. I'm sorry, Ace, but I just flew eight plus hours and I just want to see him. Please. Just for a second." Logan looked frantic. "I didn't know I had a son, and this is just a lot to process in a day, and I just want to see him."

"What do you mean you never got the message?"

"Odette told me when I got home from work today," explained Logan, visually stressed by the situation. "She got the message. She deleted it. I never knew. I don't think she thought any sane person would just call once with that type of news."

"So she waited over a year and a half to tell you?" demanded Rory.

"I think it just spiraled away from her. I don't know. I don't think she meant to keep him from me."

"Then what did she mean to do?" snapped Rory. At first, the unreturned phone call was a personal heartbreak. She hadn't wanted to destroy Logan's life, but she did feel crushed that he didn't even want to speak to her about it. After Charlie was born, it had turned into dread. Dread of what her son would one day ask and what she'd have to say and explain.

"I'm sorry," offered Logan. "I hate everything about this. But please, please just let me see him."

Rory's brain raced, spinning out of control with all the different ways the situation could have played out if Logan had received the message. It was overwhelming.

"Ace, don't make me get down on my knees," Logan joked, reaching out and putting his hand on her shoulder. "I'll be quieter than a mouse."

"Where are you staying?" asked Rory instead, surprising herself. She leaned slightly into his touch.

"Some hotel or something."

Rory shook her head. "It's late. The couch isn't the best, but you're welcome to it."

"Can I see him?"

"Just for a moment, and you have to be quiet."

Rory lead him to Charlie's door and opened it, granting access to Logan. She watched as he slowly walked toward the crib and stared at her son, their son.

"What's his name?" Logan asked quietly.

"Charlie," whispered Rory from the doorframe. "Charles Richard Gilmore."

Rory turned around and began gathering things to transform the couch to a bed. She grabbed Logan a deflated pillow, sheet and old comforter and arranged them on the couch. When she returned, Logan was still standing quietly over the crib.

A weird feeling filled Rory. If Logan had truly been deprived of the first ten months of his son's life, then she felt sad for what he had missed out on, what she had been able to enjoy. The first time Charlie laughed and the sleepless nights Rory had spent when he was colicky. Rory couldn't imagine having missed it all.

Rory left Logan leaning over the crib. Suddenly, she didn't have the heart to pull him away.

Rory grabbed the baby monitor and went to her room and crawled into her bed, pulling the comforter completely over her head.


	3. Friday

Rory rolled over and slowly crawled from her warm comforter cocoon. Miraculously, she had slept the whole night through. In a daze, she glanced toward her clock.

"9:30?" exclaimed Rory. Panic rushed through her as she grabbed at the baby monitor. It tumbled to the floor. She tried to jump out of bed quickly, but her feet were tangled in the sheets. Instead, she fell from the bed. She managed to get her hands out in front of her before her face hit the floor.

When she finally managed to get the monitor into her hands it was turned off. She frantically pressed the power button as she climbed to her feet, but couldn't get a picture of her sleeping baby to appear. She burst from her room.

"Hey, Ace," called Logan from the kitchen. Charlie sat in his high chair as Logan worked at the stovetop.

"What are you doing?" demanded Rory. She went immediately toward Charlie. "Do you even have him strapped in?"

"Whoa – just making breakfast." Logan held his hands in the air, including the spatula that he was holding. "Chocolate chip pancakes. I thought you might want something when you got up."

"I overslept. We have to go."

"I thought you might want to sleep in," explained Logan.

"Charlie always wakes me up. For the past 10 months I've never woken up after 7:30. We have to be in New York, Logan."

"I'm sorry," responded Logan, visibly taken aback. "I thought I was doing you a favor. I looked in on him and he was standing in his crib, and I thought I'd let you sleep. I didn't know."

"I'm not even packed," exclaimed Rory as she walked into the living room and began grabbing papers from different stacks.

"What can I do to help?" Logan followed Rory into the living room carrying Charlie in his arms.

"Nothing." Rory continued to shove paper into her bag. She reached for her laptop and couldn't make it fit. With an exasperated groan, she began removing papers to make room.

"Breakfast to go?" offered Logan, motioning with his free arm toward the pancakes he had made.

"You've done enough, Logan," responded Rory. Rory returned to the kitchen and began piling Charlie's things on the kitchen table. The mountain grew rapidly.

"I can watch Charlie," volunteered Logan, still following Rory around the apartment. Logan's face lit up at the idea. He watched the previously stacked bottles roll toward the edge of the table.

"No." Rory picked up the bottles one at a time and began to assemble them from their separate pieces. She filled each one with premeasured amounts of water to later mix with formula.

"It would be fine, Ace. We could spend the day together. You could do your meeting. I promise not to burn the house down while your gone," implored Logan.

"No, Logan."

"He's my son too, Rory. This would be perfect. I could spend some time with him, and you could just focus on your meeting." Logan looked picturesque standing in the small kitchen with Charlie happily on his side.

"You don't just get to show up and demand to watch Charlie," snapped Rory. She began searching the apartment for Charlie's travel bag.

"I'm not trying to. I'm just trying to help," offered Logan.

"Do you even know the first thing about babies? Diapers? Bottles? Burping? Don't let them stick their fingers in sockets?"

"Sounds like taking care of Finn." Rory wasn't amused.

"I don't have time for this," responded Rory dismissively as she retreated to her room, still looking for Charlie's bag. Logan stood politely outside the door. "I can't find his bag anywhere."

"I have nieces," Logan called, watching as Rory crawled under the bed. "I've held them. I've changed diapers. They threw up on me. Honor even let me babysit on multiple occasions."

"You've watched your nieces?"

"You want to check my references?"

"Logan - "

"I'll send you updates every hour."

"I don't think - "

"It'll be fine."

"I usually just take him - "

"Updates every half an hour?"

"You promise you know what you're doing?" Rory asked, sitting up on the floor.

"No light sockets."

"I need to change," stated Rory. Logan nodded and walked away from the doorframe. She stood and closed the door.

Rory emerged from her room in a high waisted mid length A-line skirt with a tucked in white blouse. She was pulling a mustard yellow cropped cardigan. She walked directly to the door, where all of her shoes were piled. She started searching for a matching pair of simple tan heels.

"All the phone numbers are on the fridge. 9-1-1, poison control, the pediatrician. My mother always has her phone on her if you need anything. You have my number."

"I've always wondered how to reach 9-1-1," Logan gleefully joked.

"There are CPR and first aid instructions there too," instructed Rory.

"At 9-1-1?"

"On the fridge." Rory indicated the diagrams on the front of the refrigerator.

"This will be great," responded Logan, lifting Logan from his side into the air.

"Are you sure you're up for this?"

"Go to your meeting," encouraged Logan as he lifted his son up and down above his head. "Aren't you running late?"

"If you need anything, call me." Rory studied the pair carefully.

"We'll be fine." Logan's gaze didn't leave Charlie.

"Are you sure?"

"Updates every half hour," promised Logan.

"Bye, Charlie." Rory stepped toward them and stopped Logan mid decline. She kissed her son on the forehead. "I love you. Don't let him steal any yachts, okay?"

* * *

"I'm so sorry, Jess," apologized Rory as she took a seat across from him in a small coffee shop. She grabbed at her hair and began pulling it back into a ponytail. She felt like she couldn't catch a break this morning. She felt uneasy without Charlie at her side.

"Busy morning?"

"I overslept," explained Rory. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to waste your time."

"It's no big deal," excused Jess. He took a sip of the mug in front of him.

Rory pulled her laptop bag into her lap and opened it. She threw her head back and sighed dramatically.

"I forgot about this." She tilted the bag toward Jess, displaying the mass of tangled papers oriented in every direction imaginable toward him.

"Very busy morning," reiterated Jess.

Rory began the slow process of pulling each individual paper out of the bag and putting them in the proper order and piles. She pressed them against the table in an attempt to remove some of the wrinkles and encourage them to lay flat again.

"Want something to drink?" offered Jess.

"I'm good," responded Rory, shuffling her papers.

"Where's Charlie?" asked Jess.

"He stayed at home today," responded Rory cryptically. She glanced at her phone and the recent text from Logan. True to his word, Rory's phone had been a constant influx of updates. He had sent a variety of pictures of the pair together and Charlie in his playpen. Earlier Logan had sent a video of him encouraging Charlie to 'wave to Mommy' and Charlie enthusiastically obliging with both hands in spastic gestures. Rory passed the video and selected a photo of just Charlie. She passed the phone toward Jess to see the photo.

"It was a crazy morning. Did I say I was sorry for making you wait?" repeated Rory.

"You may have mentioned it," joked Jess, handing her phone back. "I would have watched him if you wanted to bring him. Whenever you come into the city. It's no big deal."

"Oh, Jess." Rory stopped her paper sorting for a moment and smiled. "I couldn't ask you to do that."

"It wouldn't be a big deal," continued Jess. "The guys at work think he's cute. He's a good kid."

"That's a really kind offer, Jess." Rory returned to sorting her papers.

"I bet he'd be a good chick magnet at the park, too," mused Jess. "We could go feed the birds now that it's starting to get warm out."

"He is pretty cute," agreed Rory.

"So, when are you two going to move to the city?"

Rory laughed. "Between you and my mother, Charlie and I will never be able to settle down."

"You would like New York," encouraged Jess. "And, it's less of a commute and there's a ton of good preschools around for Charlie."

"But farther from Stars Hollow."

Jess shrugged. "You could still visit every week."

"It's not even worth considering until the book is published," deflected Rory. "The advance was just enough to cover the apartment."

"Well, you two can always stay at my place," offered Jess. Rory was focused intently on her papers. "I mean, when you have to be here a few days in a row, it might be nice to not have to drive all the way home just to turn around and drive back."

"We couldn't put you out like that."

"It wouldn't be a problem," insisted Jess. "It's nice having you two around."

Rory smiled. "Thanks, Jess."

"Are you sure I can't get you anything?" asked Jess. "Breakfast? Coffee?"

Rory looked at her watch.

"I'm so sorry, Jess," proclaimed Rory. "I have to leave for this meeting. Can we go over the notes some other time?"

Jess nodded and began helping Rory return her papers to her laptop case.

* * *

"I'm home, I'm home!" exclaimed Rory as she raced through the door, tossing her heels off at the door. She threw her bag on the couch and looked around quickly. "Where's my favorite guy?"

Logan exited Charlie's room, baby in arms. "I'm right here. Charlie's here too."

"Oh, Charlie!" cooed Rory, extending her arms for her son. Logan passed him over without any dispute. She immediately checked his diaper and surveyed him for any scratches or bruises.

"Did I pass?" asked Logan.

"Was he good? Sometimes he can get a little fussy in the afternoon. Did he take a nap?" questioned Rory in a single breath.

"He was perfect," assured Logan.

"You were perfect?" exclaimed Rory, snuggling her son close to her. She brought her face up to his and kissed him on the nose.

"Absolutely perfect."

"Did he eat well?"

"Yes, he ate. I found your Charlie diary in the cabinet. He's right on schedule."

"It's just a log so I can keep track," responded Rory quickly. Her eyes glanced briefly toward the composition notebook that she filled with Charlie's daily habits. "The Doctor recommended it. It helps when Mom watches him. And he's transitioning off formula. It just makes it easier."

Logan nodded. "Makes sense."

The pair stood awkwardly in the kitchen.

"I was going to make dinner, but you have absolutely nothing anywhere," teased Logan.

"That's not true." Rory snuggled Charlie close to her. She took his hand in hers, allowing him to wrap all of his tiny fingers around just one of hers.

"Are the Puffs just for Charlie, or do you eat them too?" continued Logan.

"There's food!" exclaimed Rory. She smiled. "I only eat the Puffs when we're out of chips. They're actually not that bad."

"I ordered us Chinese," commented Logan. "A whole spread."

"You didn't have to do that, Logan," stated Rory. She looked toward Logan with appreciation.

"You're in a good mood," commented Logan. "Meeting go well?"

"Everything's on track," responded Rory, bouncing Charlie in her arms and making fish faces.

"Ace?"

"Yes?"

"I wanted to ask you something." Logan looked uncomfortable, but his eyes never left the baby in Rory's arms. His expression was one of resolution.

"Okay? What is it?" Rory continued to bounce Charlie.

"Could I stay here a little longer? A week tops? The couch is perfect, and I would help with whatever you need."

Rory was silent and paused in her baby antics.

"Just until I can find a place of my own," explained Logan. He shifted uneasily.

"You're staying?" Rory's voice was flat.

"I want to be near Charlie," stated Logan, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "I'll have to move some obligations around with work, but it's all very doable."

"Is this what you want?" Rory studied Logan carefully, trying to gauge where this was coming from.

"To be with my son?" Logan cocked his head slightly to the side, meeting her gaze. He found confidence with every moment that passed that Rory didn't outright say 'no.'

"Logan, you don't have to do to this."

"This is what I want, Ace," insisted Logan.

There was a knock at the door.

Logan smiled. "Saved by Chinese food. Think about it? We can talk about the details later."

Rory nodded slightly. "I'm going to change Charlie into his pajamas." She paused, deep in thought. "We'll talk about it."

Logan went to open the door while Rory went toward her bedroom with Charlie.

Logan opened the door and asked, "How much do I owe you?" He was already pulling bills from his wallet.

Jess stood in front of him. A binder was tucked under one arm and a brown bag was in the other. He pulled the bag away slightly when Logan reached for it.

"Is Rory here?" asked Jess abruptly.

"Oh. I'm sorry," apologized Logan. He stepped back. "Rory! Someone is here for you."

"I'm Logan." Logan extended a hand toward Jess.

"We've met." Jess made no motion to shake Logan's hand.

Logan dropped the handshake and nodded slightly. His eyes focused on Jess, trying to place where they had met previously. Awkwardly, he responded, "Great to see you again. Rory is just changing Charlie. It'll just be a moment."

Jess and Logan stood in silence at the door. Neither made any attempts at small talk.

"Jess," exclaimed Rory as she exited her room with Charlie in arms. Charlie was wearing a gray onesie pajama set with a giant panda bear on front. "What are you doing here?"

"Wanted to get these notes to you," offered Jess. Suddenly, he found something very interesting to stare at down the hall. He handed her the binder.

"You brought dinner." Rory motioned toward the brown bag in Jess's other hand.

"Thought the food might help with the notes." Jess handed the food toward Rory and then promptly hid his hands in his jacket pockets.

"That bad, huh?" asked Rory. Jess was too busy staring at Logan to respond.

"You didn't have to drive all this way," added Rory. "We could have gone over them next week."

Jess shrugged, still not looking at Rory. "I needed to drop off something with Luke anyway."

"Do you want to come in?" asked Rory.

"I'm good."

"Are you sure? We ordered way too much Chinese," encouraged Logan, not faltering under Jess's gaze.

"I'll see you next time you're in New York, Rory?" asked Jess.

"Of course!" exclaimed Rory. "I promise to be on time. I owe you."

"Nice seeing you again," commented Logan.

"Yeah." Jess looked toward Rory and then back toward Logan. He shook his head slightly and turned away.

"Here, let me cover the food," Logan called, reaching for his wallet again and stepping toward Jess as he walked away.

"It's okay," Jess responded holding his right hand in the air with a dismissive wave. He continued walking.

The door shut.

"I'm sorry, Ace."

"What?"

"I can go," continued Logan. "I can get a hotel for the night – for the weekend. Why don't you call him and eat dinner together? It's no big deal."

"Logan," began Rory, but she stalled. She wasn't sure what he was apologizing about.

"We'll figure this out," promised Logan. "This can work."

"What can work?" demanded Rory, completely confused.

"We can both be here, both here for Charlie. I'm not trying to take over your life. I just want to be with my son," implored Logan.

"Oh," laughed Rory. "No. Logan, it's not like that."

"I can go," insisted Logan. "I didn't mean to mess up your night. Just say the word, and I'll find a hotel for the night. Not a problem at all."

Rory shook her head. "I really wasn't expecting him, Logan."

"But if you were, it wouldn't be a problem," stated Logan diplomatically.

"I'll keep that in mind next time I want to get dinner with Jess," countered Rory.

Logan looked perplexed but nodded, feeling they had reached an agreement.

Rory reached out and looped her arm around Logan's waist. It felt simultaneously familiar but strange. It was a platonic gesture, but it reminded her of years past.

"Logan, I'm starving. Let's eat."

* * *

 **A/N: Thank you for reading and a huge shout out to everyone who reviewed/favorited/followed the story. It means a lot, and I love hearing everyone's thoughts!**


	4. Saturday

Rory woke to noises of Charlie shrieking loudly followed by giggling. She rolled over and the baby monitor displayed a video of Charlie standing in his crib, his fingers clutched to the bars.

Rory climbed out of bed to get her son. At the door, she doubled back and looked for her robe. She suddenly felt self-conscious in her own apartment.

When Rory finally made it into Charlie's room, Logan had beaten her there. She smiled at how natural it was to see Charlie in his arms.

"You can go back to bed," excused Logan, when he looked up to see Rory.

"He probably needs to be changed," advised Rory. She closed the distance between Logan and herself and offered to take Charlie.

"I can do it," agreed Logan. He went toward the changing table while Rory selected Charlie's first outfit for the day. No doubt he would need to be changed several times more through-out the day.

"He sure can wiggle," commented Logan, trying to wrangle his son into a clean diaper.

"It helps if you give him a pacifier or something." Rory appeared with a soft plastic toy in the shape of a giraffe. She offered it to Charlie, who eagerly grabbed at it. He shoved it toward the back of his mouth and gnawed enthusiastically. Distracted, Charlie was still enough for Logan to finish his task.

"You should write a book," proclaimed Logan as he began the trying task of putting his son's outfit on. Rory helped by making faces at her son. Logan laughed, noting her expressions. "I need to start carrying a camera around."

"Desperate times," replied Rory, laughing. She wasn't used to someone being able to watch her make a fool of herself for the benefit of Charlie.

"Done!" proclaimed Logan, throwing his arms dramatically in the air.

"Picture perfect," proclaimed Rory, lifting her son from the changing table.

"He is perfect, isn't he?" commented Logan, ruffling his son's blond curls.

"I'm so inclined to agree." Rory tickled her son, sending him into a fit of giggles.

"Let's go get breakfast," Logan offered. Suddenly, he looked like he wanted to eat his words. "Is there a place closer than Luke's?"

"Tons," laughed Rory, catching onto his discomfort. "Not ready to face the music?"

"Not ready to face the Gilmores," agreed Logan.

"The Gilmore-Danes, that is," corrected Rory with a grin.

"There are plenty of people to face," agreed Logan grimly. "Let's just keep this between us for a few days? I want to get some things settled before defending myself against Lorelai."

Rory made a show of thinking it over. She teased, "You better gather your best defense. You abandoned her favorite grandson."

Logan's gaze narrowed. Fiercely, he responded, "I didn't abandon him. I didn't know he even existed. I would have been here."

"Sorry," apologized Rory quickly, realizing her joke was in bad taste. "I didn't mean it like that."

"How about we get breakfast somewhere closer and take Charlie to the park and just have a good day. The three of us," offered Logan.

Rory was silent for a moment. She pursed her lips, weighing her options.

"Unless you want to go to Star's Hollow?" continued Logan with a sigh of resolution. "We can do that too."

"Luke's does have the best donuts. But I know another place."

"Last night was nice," commented Logan offhandedly. The pair had stayed up late talking over the excess of Chinese food between what Logan had ordered and what Jess had brought. They had talked for hours but neither of them had the courage to ask the hard-hitting questions. Logan looked softly toward Rory and began to say something.

Logan's phone rang.

"Go ahead and take that." Rory turned around to grab shoes for her son.

Logan hit the decline button on his phone. "It can wait. Let's go."

* * *

"I'll go put him down," offered Rory. They had just returned from feeding the ducks at the park. With Charlie in the stroller, Logan made a show of chasing the ducks around, and it had worn Charlie out. His eyes were mostly closed as they walked through the front door of the apartment.

"How does leftover Chinese sound for lunch?" asked Logan, immediately going toward the kitchen. He opened the refrigerator and noted the many untouched cartons of food.

"Do you think we have enough?" playfully asked Rory as she went toward Charlie's room.

"With the way you eat? Not a chance." Logan began putting food on the counters and transferring them to dishes in order to heat them up.

"I'm offended," responded Rory a few minutes later. She exited Charlie's room and closed the door behind herself.

Rory helped Logan finish up heating the food, and they sat down at the kitchen table.

"So what do you think?" asked Logan in between bites.

"The rice didn't heat up well, " commented Rory.

"No, what we talked about yesterday."

Rory continued to eat. She chewed her food slowly, trying to buy time.

"Ace?" pressed Logan.

"You mean it?" asked Rory.

"Mean what?"

"Did you really mean that you want to be around? Permanently." Rory stopped eating for a moment, waiting for Logan to answer.

"I want to be here," repeated Logan. "I've already missed ten months and don't want to miss any more time."

Rory sighed and ran her fingers through her hair. "I wouldn't want to keep you from Charlie."

"What's on your mind?" asked Logan slowly.

"My father came and went throughout my childhood," explained Rory. "My mother didn't want to keep him from me, and I'm glad. But, there were so many times he promised to come and never did. I don't want Charlie to have to deal with that."

"Ace, I want to move here," repeated Logan. His exasperation was beginning to show. "I just need a little time to get everything set up. I want to be a part of his life full time. I want to be his father."

"I know you say that now."

"No, I'm not just saying that," corrected Logan. He felt as if he wasn't getting through to her; she just wouldn't understand. "You know what my relationship was like with my father, and I want to be better. I am going to be better. I'm going to be there."

There was silence. The conversation halted under the guise of eating.

"I didn't mean to offend you," finally offered Rory.

"I'm going to be there for him. We're in this together, Ace," asserted Logan. He cracked open a fortune cookie and teased, "Even says so right here."

Rory's phone began to ring.

"Take it," encouraged Logan, crunching on the cookie.

"Hey, Mom," greeted Rory, holding her phone to her ear.

"Mom - now's not the time," protested Rory. Her posture shifted; she sat upright. "Yes, he's here - No, I was going to tell you."

"It's been a busy morning. I had a busy day," continued Rory, making excuses.

Rory listened to what her mother was saying, occasionally nodding in agreement. Logan focused intently on his food.

"Yeah, for the foreseeable future," agreed Rory. "I don't know. A few days maybe?"

Logan got up and refilled their glasses with water. He was trying not to listen too closely to the conversation.

"Yeah, I'll keep you updated. I promise." Rory hung up.

"Everything okay?" asked Logan. He tried to hide his interest.

"Words out," responded Rory simply. She spun her lo mein in endless circles.

"What do you mean?" pressed Logan.

"Jess told my Mom and Luke that you were here," explained Rory.

"It was bound to happen eventually." Nonetheless, Logan didn't appear thrilled.

Logan's phone began to ring.

"Take it."

Logan shook his head and pressed the decline button. "It can wait."

"Mom's just upset that I didn't call."

"I'm sure I shouldn't take it personally?"

Logan's phone rang again. Again, he ignored it.

Rory glanced toward the phone. "I do think she's glad that you want to be a part of Charlie's life."

Logan's phone rang a third time.

"Someone really wants to talk to you," noted Rory. Rory got up from the table. "I'll give you some space."

"No, no." Logan grabbed at Rory's hand as she stepped away, pulling her gently back toward the table; he didn't want her to get the wrong idea. "It's just Finn."

Rory began to clear the table from lunch, as Logan answered the phone.

"Hey," greeted Logan simply, protecting his plate from Rory as she tried to take it away.

"No, I would never dodge your calls Finn," lied Logan. "I've been away from my phone."

Logan shifted awkwardly in his seat. "He'll get over it. "

Logan looked anxiously over his shoulder toward Rory at the sink and dropped his voice. "I know, I know. Look – I just had to get out of there."

Logan stood from his seat.

"What?" snapped Logan. "Where did you hear that?"

He began to pace. "Yeah, send it to me." Logan groaned and ran his fingers through his hair.

"No, Finn, we haven't talked about it," replied Logan dismissively. "Sure, every kid should have an uncle."

Despite his frustration, Logan laughed. "No, we haven't asked Colin either. Finn, I have to go. Send me the link, okay?"

"Everything okay?" mimicked Rory.

Logan's attention was already diverted to something on his phone.

"Odette went public," replied Logan, his eyes glued to the screen.

"What do you mean?" asked Rory, stepping toward him.

"Looks like we don't get to wait a few days to tell people."

"What did Odette do?" pressed Rory.

"I have to call her." Logan continued to read, intentionally not making eye contact with Rory.

"I understand," Rory said simply. She crossed her arms in front of her chest. Suddenly she felt foolish. She had had nearly forty-eight hours of everything seeming to fall into place; obviously it was too good to be true.

"It's not like that, Ace," Logan disagreed quickly. He stepped toward her and put his hand on her arm. "This doesn't change anything. I just have to deal with this."

"Deal with what? What's going on?"

Logan showed her his phone, with an article freshly sent from Finn pulled up. The headline read, 'Why the Huntzberger Heir Got Cold Feet Revealed.'

"Does this say what I think it does?" asked Rory, quickly scrolling through the article to skim. She hated the idea of Charlie being brought into the spotlight.

"I'll take care of it," assured Logan.

"Logan." Rory continued to read. "This says that you were supposed to get married today – you were supposed to get married this morning."

"Not my proudest moment," admitted Logan, exhaling sharply. He continued to pace.

Rory paused, uncertain if she wanted to know the answers to the questions bouncing around her head. "Did you tell her?"

"She told me about Charlie, and I got on a plane," explained Logan evasively.

Rory continued to scroll through the article. "She sounds hurt, angry."

"I'll call her. I'll ask her to stop talking to the press. She'll understand," assured Logan. He didn't leave her side.

Rory shook her head and handed the phone back to Logan. "You need to go home and sort this out."

"I'm not going anywhere," disagreed Logan, scrolling through the article again.

"Logan, you abandoned her." Rory's tone was accusatory.

"It's not like that," defended Logan. His tone was unconvincing.

"That's not what this makes it look like." Rory motioned toward the phone cynically.

"We hadn't been doing great," admitted Logan. "We'd both had our…transgressions. Odette wanted to come clean. She wanted a fresh start between us before the wedding. She told me everything."

"That's when she told you about Charlie?" rephrased Rory.

Logan nodded. "It just wasn't going to work."

Rory was silent, contemplating everything she had just learned.

"It wasn't just Charlie," promised Logan.

Rory and Logan stared at each other. Rory bit her lip. Logan was completely still.

"Do you want me to leave?" Logan finally asked quietly.

"I," began Rory, her heart suddenly racing. In that moment, she suddenly was confronted with her answer. It didn't make sense to her, but there it was clear as day. "No."

"I'm going to call her right now," stated Logan intently. He smiled at Rory, gratitude embedded in his eyes. "I'll sort this out. I'm not going anywhere, Ace."

Rory turned her back toward Logan to hide her shaking hands. She took a deep breath as Logan left the apartment, trying to steady herself. From a practical standpoint, it made sense that she didn't want Logan to leave; they were just starting to figure things out. She was starting to see a better future for her child; a future that didn't involve excuses as to why his father wasn't around.

Logan returned looking more frustrated than when he left. He paced in the living room, fuming.

"Didn't go so well?" asked Rory hesitantly.

"She's getting on a flight tomorrow. I'm meeting her in New York. She wants to talk."


	5. Sunday

Rory exited her room to the familiar sight of Logan moving toward Charlie's room. She noticed that Logan had moved his makeshift bed to the floor of the living room. The lumpy couch was a less than ideal situation.

"I can get him this morning," offered Rory.

Charlie was standing in his crib, bouncing happily. He held himself up with his small hands wrapped around the bars of the crib. When he saw Rory and Logan at the door, he frantically began waving his hands around like Logan had taught him two days earlier. Without the bars for balance, he fell backwards onto his diaper. Not showing any frustration, he pulled himself back to his feet.

"I don't mind." The way Logan looked at their son made Rory's heart go out to him. Maybe Logan was right. Maybe she had done something wrong by not calling him back when he didn't return the message. At the time, it had all seemed so clear cut. Everything else felt confusing and overwhelming, but leaving Logan out of it after he didn't call her back had seemed the simple part.

"I'll change his diaper, you pick out his outfit?" negotiated Rory, picking up her son from the crib. Charlie eagerly grabbed at Rory's face. His little hands moved from Rory's nose to mouth and then onto her hair, pulling relentlessly at the loose strands.

Logan went to the dresser, and began searching through the drawers. He seemed to take the task at hand very seriously, despite the fact that Charlie would no doubt have to be changed again before lunch. The drawers were overfilled with outfits; Lorelai didn't have much self-control when it came to baby stores.

"What do you think?" asked Logan, holding two outfits for Rory to choose. "Dinosaur or tuxedo?"

In one hand, Logan had a two-shade green onesie with plush spikes running down the back. It even had a hood with eyes and dramatic teeth sewed on. In the other hand, a short sleeved black and white onesie with a bowtie, buttons and a pocket square drawn on.

Rory made a show of weighing the two options. Finally, she answered, "Dinosaur."

Logan nodded. "Tuxedos are too formal for a Sunday."

They dressed Charlie together and Rory carried Charlie into the kitchen to give him breakfast. Logan grabbed the folded pack and play from against the wall in Charlie's room and began to assemble it in the living room. Wordlessly, he folded up the sheets and comforter from the floor he had spent the night on.

"I can watch him this morning if you need to work or something." Rory noted how hopeful Logan sounded.

"That sounds great. You want to feed him?"

Logan walked quickly into the kitchen before Rory could change her mind. Rory handed Charlie and the bottle carefully to Logan.

"There's some baby food in the 'fridge if he's still hungry," offered Rory, retreating into the living room. Within minutes, the small table had been covered in her array of papers and her laptop. In her lap was the binder that Jess had given her two days prior. Her face was immediately serious as she delved into the many notes Jess had scribbled into the margins.

Logan took a seat in the kitchen. He happily watched as the contents of the bottle quickly disappeared.

"You still hungry, bud?" asked Logan. He began searching through the contents of the refrigerator, moving numerous half empty cartons of Chinese food out of the way and extraneous left overs before finding jars of baby food tucked away.

"Peas or peaches?" Logan asked his son. He placed Charlie in his high chair, taking care to make sure that the straps were adequately placed. He offered both containers to his son.

Eagerly, Charlie grabbed at one of them. Logan reflected on the label.

"Peaches it is," agreed Logan, turning around to grab one of the padded baby spoons. He fastened a bib around his son's neck. "You're right. Who eats peas for breakfast anyway?"

Strategically, Logan began feeding his son. His attempts to get as much of the mushed up peaches into Charlie's mouth was met with merry resistance. Gleefully, Charlie tried to grab the spoon from Logan every time he put it near his mouth. When Logan evaded his son's attempts for the spoon, Charlie settled for shoving his fingers in his full mouth and painting his face with peaches.

After Charlie had already made a huge mess of the peaches, Logan gave him the spoon. Charlie immediately began banging it against the high chair table. The baby was delighted by his new noisemaker. Logan put the peaches away and began cleaning up the mess. He began first with Charlie's face and then worked toward his hands. Finally, he cleaned the table before lifting Charlie from the chair.

"Babababababababa!" pleaded Charlie as Logan carried him into the living room. Logan laughed at his son's emphatic requests for a bottle.

"You have your mother's appetite," Logan teased. He placed Charlie on the floor and situated himself between Charlie and the table.

"Mamamamamama," Charlie babbled, catching sight of Rory working diligently on the couch. To her benefit, she focused on her work and tried to give Logan space to take care of Charlie without being overbearing.

Logan handed Charlie a small plush soccer ball with handles that rattled when shaken and a smiling face embroidered onto it. Charlie began vigorously shaking the toy, happy with his noisemaker.

"Da-da," coached Logan as his son rolled onto his stomach to crawl toward the corner where he knew more toys to be hidden away.

"Da-da" repeated Logan. He lifted his son from the floor and placed him in his lap. He began to tickle him.

Charlie smiled and thrashed merrily in Logan's lap. Logan continued his efforts to teach Charlie a new word, a new name.

"Mamamamama!" protested Charlie.

"He's stubborn," laughed Rory. "Mom has been trying to teach him Ga-ga or La-la ever since he started talking."

"I'll wear him down eventually," asserted Logan. He blew air on his son's stomach, sending him into a new fit of giggles. Logan barely managed to move his head quick enough to avoid being kicked in the face. "Da-da!"

Watching the pair interact, Rory suddenly grew solemn. "What time do you have to leave?"

Logan paused. He looked toward Rory and studied her for a long moment before returning his attention to Charlie. "Around noon."

"Are you coming back tonight?" asked Rory, feigning disinterest. She wasn't sure how much she wanted to know. Even though it had only been a few days, she had grown accustomed to having Logan around. She didn't want that to change. However, she wanted the decision to come from Logan; she didn't want him to have any regrets in regards to how he handled the situation at hand.

"Sorry, that's none of my business." Rory quickly amended her statement, making a show of returning intently to the notes in the binder. Her mind was anywhere but focused on the scribbled words in front of her.

"I'll be back tonight," volunteered Logan smoothly, ignoring Rory's apology. Rory gave no indication that she had heard him.

"Da-da" urged Logan, returning his attention to Charlie once more.

* * *

Rory sat on the couch with the television on. Despite having sat in the same place for the last fifteen minutes, she had no idea what she was watching. Her mind was in a different place.

She had put Charlie down nearly an hour ago, and without him to distract her, her mind had begun to worry.

She regretted not asking more questions of Logan that morning but reminded herself that it really wasn't any of her business. She tried to sort out her emotions, but couldn't put a name to what she was feeling. Rory had picked up the phone multiple times since Logan had left after lunch, but when she went to dial the number she found herself uncertain of whom she wanted to talk to. Her mother? Lane? Logan?

She thought about calling Jess and seeing if he could talk work, but she feared his reaction to finding Logan at the apartment two nights prior. That was a battle that Rory wasn't ready to face just yet, especially when she was wracked with this uneasy feeling regarding Odette's sudden appearance.

Instead, Rory remained alone with her thoughts.

Rory checked the time for the third time in the last two minutes. The clock showed 8:03. Logan had been gone for nearly eight hours. Methodically, Rory tried to account for the missing time. It would have taken an hour or more depending on traffic to drive into the city and the same amount of time back. He would have had to deal with getting in and out of the airport. Politely, Logan may have kept her company as Odette waited for her flight back to London. Or would she have spent the night in New York? That left approximately five hours unaccounted for and with every moment that passed the uncertainly grew.

Rory's mind ran rampant. Five hours. With the time difference, would they have gotten dinner? Drinks? A hotel room?

The thought shocked Rory. Her mind went frantically blank briefly before another thought creeped in: why did she care?

Slowly, the door opened. Rory silently thanked the reprieve and got up to greet Logan.

Immediately she knew something wasn't right.

Logan walked past Rory in the living room and went immediately to the kitchen. He filled a cup with water and sat at the table. He sat with his back to Rory.

Rory followed him into the kitchen. She hesitated before sitting down across from him. After all day wishing for Logan to return, she suddenly found herself without words.

"How did you get back?" asked Rory finally. Even after being apart from Logan, she knew his drunken tells.

Logan didn't acknowledge she had said anything; he wouldn't look at her. He focused intently on the water in front of him.

"Logan, tell me you didn't drive home," pleaded Rory. The man in front of her was a stark contrast from the one who had left earlier in the day. Logan sat slouched over the table, looking drained.

"I didn't drive home," Logan said carefully, focusing on enunciating each of his syllables.

Rory breathed a sigh of relief. She wanted to ask how it went, but thought better of it. She got up and walked toward the front door in order to lock it. When she turned back around, Logan was standing. He stared intently at her.

"Do you think I'm an awful person?"

"What?" asked Rory, taken completely aback.

"You must think I'm an awful person," answered Logan. He continued to stare.

"Logan, where is this coming from?" asked Rory softly. He didn't respond. He just kept staring. "No, I don't think you're an awful person."

Logan laughed. He shook his head and sat back down at the kitchen table. "You think I'm an awful person."

"What's going on?" asked Rory. She returned to the table and moved her chair closer to his. "Logan, talk to me."

"You weren't even surprised that I didn't call you back. You never even thought that maybe – maybe I hadn't gotten the message. Phones mess up, you know." Despite his agitated demeanor, Logan managed to keep his voice steady.

"It's not like that," countered Rory, suddenly feeling drowned in guilt. The thought slammed around her head; had she been wrong?

"What's it like then?" snapped Logan. He visibly gathered himself. Diplomatically, he added, "I would have been there for you, Ace. I would have been there for Charlie. Taken you to the doctor and gotten you weird craving food and been there when he was born. I would have been there when my son was born."

"I left you a voicemail, Logan. You never called back, and I thought that it was because you didn't want to be a part of this," answered Rory, trying to explain herself.

"Haven't you ever heard that anything said in a voicemail doesn't count?" countered Logan emphatically.

Rory was silent for a long time before finally responding. "I didn't want to ruin your life. You were engaged, Logan."

Logan scoffed and shook his head. "That's not an excuse."

"I didn't know you didn't get the message," countered Rory. "I thought you ignored it. I thought you - "

"You thought I was the type of person that would abandon my kid," asserted Logan. "You thought I didn't want to be here. You thought I didn't want to be with him. You thought I didn't want to be with you."

Logan seemed surprised by the words that rushed from his mouth, but continued on.

"Odette said you didn't even put my name on the birth certificate," accused Logan. "Is it true?"

"Yes," replied Rory simply.

"It's true you didn't put my name on my son's birth certificate?" exclaimed Logan. He stood; despite his drunken state, he couldn't stay still any longer.

"I didn't put your name on the birth certificate, because I didn't think you wanted to be a part of Charlie's life," explained Rory slowly. She felt trapped in the circular argument. There was no winning.

"Right!" exclaimed Logan dramatically. "You thought I was the type of person who wouldn't want anything to do with my kid."

"Logan, I'm sorry. I was wrong."

"I'm going to petition to have my name added," responded Logan fiercely. He shook his head in disbelief. "I want my name on his birth certificate. I am his _father._ "

"You should," encouraged Rory.

Her agreement took Logan aback. Nonetheless, he continued with his argument.

"I'm serious. I'm going to be on his birth certificate."

"I'm serious too," agreed Rory. She repeated, "I was wrong, Logan. I'm sorry."

In that moment, Rory suddenly realized that she had inadvertently stolen the first ten months of Charlie's life from Logan.

Logan reached into his pocket and tossed the contents onto the table. A silver ring with a large diamond flittered on the table. It spun in circles from the force until it laid still in front of Rory. The band glittered with small diamonds as the silver metal wrapped in delicate patterns around the large stone set in the center.

"Logan - " began Rory, her eyes growing large at the sight of the ring on the table. Her mind raced, but she couldn't form a coherent sentence.

"Relax, Ace," commented Logan, reading her reaction. "It's Odette's. It was Odette's. Guess it felt more dramatic to give it back."

Rory felt a pang of guilt. She reflected on Logan's promise the day before that Charlie hadn't been the only thing standing between his marriage to Odette and a blissful life, but Rory couldn't help but feel that this was the second marriage she had ruined. Her guilt-ridden heart went out to Odette. The woman that she had tried to pretend didn't exist for the last few years; the woman whose life she had silently derailed and never even met.

"Are you okay?" awkwardly asked Rory. She wasn't sure how to navigate the situation.

Logan sipped at his water. He finally mumbled, "Yeah," but Rory could tell he was lost in his own thoughts.

Rory didn't want to press Logan for what he was going through but wanted him to know she was there for him. She could only imagine the conflicting emotions and obligations he felt. Silently, she reached her arm around his waist and tried to hug him from their seated position. Instinctively, Logan's arm went around Rory's shoulder.

After a long moment, Logan stood, leaving the flashy ring on the table. He massaged his temples and picked up his glass of water.

"She won't talk to the press about Charlie anymore," promised Logan. He lifted his glass, as if celebrating the small victory. He seemed weighed down by his thoughts. Trying to make peace, he added, "Let's just watch a movie or something.


	6. Monday

There was a knock at Rory's bedroom door.

"Hey, Ace, " called Logan from the other side of the door. "Charlie's up."

Rory groaned in response as she rolled over in bed. She grabbed her phone from her nightstand and begrudgingly got out of bed.

"You don't have to get up," commented Logan as Rory stumbled out of her room. "I just didn't want to mess up your baby alarm clock system."

"Coffee. Now," pleaded Rory as she collapsed into a chair at the kitchen table. She noted the ring from last night was missing from the table, but chose not to ask about its fate. She rested her head on the table, watching Charlie in his highchair. Simultaneously, she scrolled rapidly through her phone.

"Decaf?" asked Logan, noting the open container of coffee grounds on the countertop.

Rory's eyes narrowed and she made a face at Logan. "Top shelf. Today's a caffeine type of day."

"Top shelf non-decaf coffee it is," agreed Logan, opening all the cabinets in order to find what the container Rory was referencing. She didn't offer any further assistance.

"After breakfast I was hoping to go run some errands. Get some clean shirts. Look into a few things. It can wait if you need me to watch Charlie, though?" continued Logan as he put together a pot of coffee.

"I have to go into the city," complained Rory, motioning toward her phone. "My editors want to meet with me this morning concerning 'urgent business.'"

"Then I can watch Charlie," volunteered Logan immediately.

"No, no," disagreed Rory. "Go run your errands. Maybe they will go easier on me with Charlie there."

"That bad, huh?" asked Logan. He handed Charlie a bottle and sat across from Rory at the table.

"No idea," responded Rory. She offered her phone toward Logan to read the e-mail. "It's all very vague."

Logan skimmed the e-mail quickly. Logan slid Rory her phone back. "Well, we can always dress Charlie up in some rags if you think that would help."

Rory silently took the phone back and began rereading the e-mail.

"How long do you think you'll be gone?" continued Logan.

Rory shrugged. "Depends on traffic and what they want to talk about. I'm going to see if Jess can meet too."

Rory picked up her phone and began to text Jess asking if they could meet at their standard spot to go over notes. She felt that she needed to be prepared to fight for her book today after just meeting with the editors three days prior.

"Oh, Jess?" The words were out before Logan could stop them. He busied himself by getting up and pouring each of them a mug of coffee.

"Yeah," agreed Rory, choosing to ignore the underlying question. "I haven't been able to get through all his notes yet. He may have something major that could help."

"I'd love to read your book sometime," offered Logan.

Rory shook her head. Awkwardly, she joked, "Top secret confidential information."

"You know, I do have some experience with writing," pressed Logan with his characteristic charming smile.

Rory sipped her coffee. "Oh, caffeine. How I've missed you."

"Seriously, Ace."

"It's just very... not done," explained Rory thoughtfully.

"You let Jess read it," countered Logan strategically.

"Maybe when it's closer to finished," responded Rory dismissively.

Logan nodded slightly. "I'll hold you to that."

"We can add it to the list."

"The list?" asked Logan.

"Of things we'll talk about later," responded Rory, acknowledging that they had been choosing to simply ignore a lot of their problems lately.

"We'll figure this out." Logan reached across the table and squeezed Rory's hand gently. Rory made a skeptical face. "Tonight. When you get back from the city tonight, we'll hash out the details."

"Logan?" asked Rory, her voice shaking slightly.

"Yeah, Ace?"

"About last night," awkwardly began Rory, unsure of exactly what to say. After Logan's drunken return, they had stayed up late watching movies and making small talk. It had been wonderful to be able to just talk with Logan, but Rory couldn't help but feel that there was tension in the air. She waited for Logan to interject, to say something to make it all feel easier. He remained silent and waited. "I'm just – I'm sorry."

"I know," he responded simply.

* * *

This time, Rory beat Jess to the coffee shop. She staked out the normal table and strategically spread her various materials across it. She prioritized the sections that she thought needed the most work. She wanted to be ready for whatever the editors threw at her today.

Charlie sat contently in the highchair next to Rory. He mouthed at his hand, trying to get the Puff stuck to his palm into his mouth. Silently, Rory thanked the world for giving her such an even-tempered son.

The coffee from that morning mixed with her anxiety over the sudden meeting made Rory feel jittery. Ever since she stopped drinking caffeine because of Charlie, she hadn't been able to transition back fully to the stuff that had gotten her through the first thirty-two years of her life.

She tapped her pen rhythmically on the table as she tried to figure out what section the editors would want to call a sudden meeting for. Was the beginning too slow, too impersonal? Was her college drop out years too racy? Was the ending too ambiguous? Were they suddenly dropping the project?

Jess sat silently at the table with a coffee cup in hand. "I have to get back to work soon."

It suddenly hit Rory; she had pulled him away from his job without even a second thought. She was flooded with guilt, a feeling she was becoming all to familiar with. "Jess, you didn't have to come. I wasn't even thinking. Sorry, I was in full panic mode."

Jess shook his head. "What's the problem?"

"I don't know," groaned Rory. "I just woke up to an e-mail asking for a meeting with the editors immediately. Immediately. That can't be good, right?"

"Doesn't sound great." Jess shrugged. Gauging her reaction, he sighed heavily. "It's probably nothing, Rory. Just some idea they had."

Rory tugged at her hair, flipping through the pages laid out in front of her. "What do you think?"

"Maybe the ending?" stated Jess thoughtfully. He leaned over the table and directed her toward the end of the binder. "I put some notes on it. Readers want closure and it doesn't offer much."

"It's my life. What closure is there to offer?" countered Rory as she flipped through the pages of the binder.

"Insight then? You're the writer."

Rory smiled graciously. "Thanks, Jess."

"So you're bringing Charlie to the meeting?" asked Jess nonchalantly, noting Charlie in the highchair.

"Yeah," agreed Rory. "He's been to most of them."

"Babysitter fell through?" pressed Jess, leaning across the table to close the space between them.

"He usually comes with me," deflected Rory.

"Logan bail again?" Jess stared intently at Rory.

Rory swallowed hard. She didn't want to talk to Jess about this. "He's still here."

"For how long?" continued Jess.

Rory met his gaze.

"I don't know, Jess," sighed Rory. "He wants to be part of Charlie's life."

"And you're just going to let him?"

"It's his son, Jess."

"He's been gone, though. You and Charlie don't deserve that," insisted Jess, growing visibly irritated at the situation.

"It's complicated," responded Rory vaguely. "I don't want to get into it."

"He was too busy gallivanting across Europe to be there for his kid?" criticized Jess, ignoring Rory's request for privacy.

"He didn't know," snapped Rory. She felt the sudden need to defend Logan. Charlie began to fuss, growing upset with the rising strain on the conversation. Rory turned her attention to Charlie, bribing him with a pacifier and more Puffs.

"Charlie deserves more than that jerk," insisted Jess, continuing his offensive attack on Logan. "You deserve more, Rory."

Rory shook her head. "You don't know him."

Jess focused intently on Rory. "Go to dinner with me."

"What?" Rory paused in shock.

"Do you want to go to dinner with me? This week," asked Jess. He leaned back in his chair. His eyes never left Rory.

"Jess," began Rory slowly. "Can we talk about this later?"

"It's just dinner, Rory."

"You want to go on a date with me?"

"Yes," answered Jess simply, finding a sudden confidence that had been missing.

"Is this because Logan is in town?"

"Dinner, Rory. It's just dinner. You pick where."

"Let me think about it," Rory responded vaguely. A week prior she would have said yes, but now everything seemed to be in flux.

"Think about it," insisted Jess. He stood up. "Good luck at your meeting."

* * *

Rory entered the apartment with Charlie in her arms. The day had been a whirlwind. She was exhausted and it wasn't even past five yet.

"Ace!" Logan jumped from the couch. "How was your meeting?"

Rory shook her head slightly. She put Charlie in his pack and play that was still up in the living room from the day before. He began to cry at being put down, but quickly grew happy when Logan offered him his stuffed soccer ball. Rory directed her attention fully toward Logan.

"You'll never believe the day I've had," stated Rory. She collapsed dramatically on the couch.

"Good or bad?" asked Logan.

"Good," replied Rory vaguely. "Very good."

Logan smiled nervously. "You first. I have news too."

"They're pushing up my publishing date. They want to expedite everything."

"What?" exclaimed Logan, his smile growing. "That's great news!"

Rory nodded. "There's still a lot of editing to be done. A lot of it still needs to be rewritten. It needs a lot of work."

"That's fantastic!" Logan wrapped his arms around Rory. Rory pressed into Logan, allowing herself to be completely wrapped in his arms. She wrapped her arms around Logan's waist. Rory smiled, enjoying the moment.

After basking in the moment, she added, "I have Odette to thank."

Logan pulled away quickly. He quickly grew somber at the mention of her name and his face scrunched in confusion. With his hands on Rory's shoulders, he asked, "What do you mean?"

"When she went to the press – the story has apparently been picked up by other places now. It's quite the scandal, Mr. Huntzberger," she teased, trying to make light of the situation.

"She shouldn't have dragged you into this," Logan apologized. He ran his fingers through his hair, obviously irritated.

"Logan," began Rory, closing the space between them and hugging Logan once more, "It's out of your hands. Besides, publicity is publicity."

Logan made a face. "I still don't like it."

"What's your news?" Rory asked, switching the subject. It bothered her to think that the last year's events were being broadcasted across the Internet, but she could recognize that this was one instance where getting upset about it was pointless.

A smile crept onto Logan's face. "I have to show you."

* * *

"This is it," proclaimed Logan, putting the car in park. Rory stared out the window of the car. A large house was directly in front of her.

"It's yours?" guessed Rory. The house was beautiful. It appeared to be three floors with a large garage and a fence surrounded what Rory could only assume was a large backyard.

"Let me show you," insisted Logan. He jumped out of the car before Rory could protest and ran around the side of the car to retrieve Charlie. Rory slowly exited the car, gawking at Logan's new home.

"So you're moving out?" asked Rory. She followed Logan up the sidewalk toward the front door. The news hit a chord with Rory, but she wasn't sure why. It was ridiculous to think that Logan would sleep on the floor of her living room forever, but it did put them in a difficult situation with Charlie. Rory dreaded the idea of being apart from her son, even for just a weekend. She could only imagine that Logan would want days with him, and, with everything she had put him through the last year and all the effort he had put in since realizing he had a son, Rory wouldn't take that away from him.

"I'm sure you'll be happy to get your living room floor back," replied Logan, opening the door to the house. "I still need to get some furniture, but I should be able to get the bulk of it tomorrow."

The news disappointed Rory.

The front door opened to a large living room. There was a door off to the side and another hallway toward the back of the room. A staircase began to their left and spun around the backside of the living room.

"Let me show you," continued Logan, grabbing Rory's hand. With Charlie nestled against his waist, Logan pulled Rory up the stairs toward the second floor.

He opened a door immediately on the left to a large room. It was completely empty.

"It's an small upgrade from the floor, huh?" asked Logan, grinning from ear to ear.

"Don't insult my floors," joked Rory, intentionally forcing a light tone. She crossed her arms in front of her chest. She was happy that Logan was moving back to be with Charlie; she knew that he was going to get a place of his own. It just all felt so sudden.

"And this," continued Logan as he opened another door in the hallway, "is going to be Charlie's room."

The room was also empty. There was a large window to the back yard that confirmed Rory's previous suspicions; the backyard was large with a complete fence. It was complete with a swing set and what looked to be an old tree house. Toward the back of the yard, there was an old tree swing.

"Promise to keep an open mind?" pressed Logan, anxiously trying to read Rory's expression.

"This is all perfect," Rory responded, her tone strained. This was everything she had wanted for Charlie and had been unable to give him. The thought grated on her.

Logan led the way back down the stairs and through a hallway. Rory was astounded at how large the house was. Logan opened another door and motioned for Rory to enter.

It was a modestly sized room with bookshelves built into one of the walls. In the center was a large wooden desk that Rory immediately recognized. She gawked at Logan as her fingers traced the corners of the desk.

"How did you get this?" demanded Rory in awe. Her eyes didn't leave the desk as she circled it, taking it all in.

"Your grandmother had it in storage. She wanted you to have it," explained Logan.

Rory raised her eyebrows with curiosity. "You spoke to my grandmother?"

"This way you'd have somewhere private to work on your book. You can finish it where you started writing it – on your grandfather's desk."

"This is too much," whispered Rory, still in awe.

"You promised to keep an open mind."

"No, Logan, it's wonderful," agreed Rory. "It's amazing. Thank you."

"This isn't everything," Logan said slowly.

"What more could there be?" responded Rory in astonishment. "The house really is beautiful."

"I want you to move in too," blurted Logan, his words tumbling from his mouth in a single breath. He looked relieved to finally have it out in the open.

"What?"

"There's a room for you too. I want you to live here too."

"Logan," began Rory, but she didn't know what to say. Finally, she added, "I don't know."

"It would be perfect," encouraged Logan. "We could both be with Charlie. You'd have your space. You'd have a quiet place to work. I want you here."

"You want me to move in with you?" repeated Rory.

"It wouldn't be the first time," teased Logan.

The idea seemed foreign to Rory. Five days ago she assumed Charlie would never know his father and now he was trying to move them into a beautiful home.

"Charlie doesn't make the best roommate," deflected Rory. She chewed on her bottom lip. The events of the day were starting to build. Her mind spun rapidly; she was unable to hold onto a thought for longer than a moment.

The book was pushed up. Logan was here. The book needed to be finished. Logan wanted to help raise Charlie. Logan wanted to be a father. Jess asked her on a date. Charlie could have a backyard. Charlie could have a mom and a dad. Logan bought a house. The intimate details of her life would soon be read by thousands of people. Logan wanted her to move in. Jess wanted to restart something they hadn't openly discussed in over a decade. What would her Mom say?

It was all too much.

Logan shifted Charlie to his other arm, buying time as he gathered his thoughts. "Move in, Ace. Let's do this together."

"Jess wants to get dinner," blurted Rory suddenly. Hesitantly, she added, "With me."

Logan's smiled faltered, and his brow furrowed. He recovered quickly, plastering a smile on his face.

"Are you going to?" asked Logan. He tone was friendly, encouraging even. He pleaded, "Just move in, Ace. We can figure out the rest."

Rory chewed at her bottom lip. Gathering her courage she asked, "Will you get dinner with me, Logan?"

Logan exhaled, and his smile grew. "You'll move in?"

Rory nodded. Everything went quiet for a moment in her mind. Briefly, the gears stopped spinning; she could hardly believe what she was agreeing to.

"You hear that, Charlie? Mommy's moving in," cooed Logan happily, tickling his son in his own excitement.

"Are you sure about this?" pressed Rory.

Logan moved forward and wrapped his arm around Rory's waist. He stepped closer toward her while simultaneously pulling her closer. Slowly, he leaned toward her, bringing his lips close to hers. She closed her eyes and closed the distance between them.

* * *

 **A/N: Thanks to everyone who has shown their support! I love reading everyone's thoughts. Happy New Year!**


	7. Tuesday

"Ace!" called Logan through the bedroom door. "The movers are going to be here soon!"

The night before Rory had asked Logan if she could sleep in; Logan had eagerly accepted the morning Charlie duties. It had felt weird when Rory handed over the baby monitor. It felt nearly as weird as moving into a new house that day: a new house that Logan had bought for them to live in.

Rory stepped out into the disorganized mess her apartment had quickly devolved into. The night prior, with a bottle of celebratory whiskey in hand, they had started to pack up the apartment. Despite the small space and counter to Rory's beliefs, she had a ridiculous amount of belongings.

"This is impossible," proclaimed Rory as she navigated her way around large boxes scattered across the kitchen. She went to her son in his pack and play and kissed him good morning.

"You should start packing up your room," advised Logan. He playfully tossed folded cardboard boxes toward her. She batted them out of the way as she reentered the kitchen.

"Coffee first," proclaimed Rory. She opened a cabinet and to her dismay, it was empty. "Where are the cups? Logan, where are the cups?"

"Packed," replied Logan simply. He continued filling boxes in the living room.

"Well, where are the bowls?" continued Rory, opening and closing cabinet as if that would magically make dishware appear.

"Packed with the cups."

"How did you pack the entire kitchen already?" demanded Rory, reentering the living room with her hands on her hips.

"The movers are coming soon," repeated Logan. He jumped over a wall of boxes and revealed a cup of coffee from behind the boxes he had been gradually filling. "Consider it a bribe. Get packing."

Rory sighed in gratitude as she took the warm beverage into her hands. "Why do we have to move today? Wouldn't it be better to do it over a few days? What's the rush?"

"I'm just ready to get into the house," explained Logan. "And some people want to come visit."

"When?" asked Rory. She began to collect the boxes Logan had thrown at her in order to start the overwhelming task of packing her room.

"Today," answered Logan simply.

"Funny, that sounded like you said you were expecting company today," countered Rory, raising her eyebrows as she balanced a stack of boxes in one hand and her newfound coffee in the other.

"Just pack the important stuff. We will buy new furniture for the house," diverted Logan.

"People are coming today?" repeated Rory.

"It was out of my hands!" exclaimed Logan. He threw his hands in the air, indicating his surrender in the situation. "How about you pack what you need from your room and go pick out living room furniture for the new place? Just some things for people to sit on. I'll pack the rest of the things we need and Charlie's room."

"Charlie's room was hardly even unpacked in the first place," argued Rory pointlessly. She indicated the boxes she had never gotten around to unpacking when they had moved in.

"Ace, go pack your room," encouraged Logan.

Rory pointed an accusatory finger toward Logan. "You knew people were coming."

"Only since yesterday," confessed Logan with a laugh. "They won't care about what the house looks like. They just want to meet Charlie."

"They?" repeated Rory. "Who exactly is 'they'?"

"Just a few people."

"Mr. Huntzburger, who are we expecting?" Ironically, Rory found amusement in the chaos. For the past ten months she had felt alone in the chaos of a newborn's life, but now she had Logan to help.

"Finn and Colin," admitted Logan. Rory stared intently at Logan, indicating he should go on. "And Honor."

"Who else?" She knew when he was hiding something, or rather someone.

"My mother."

"Mitchum too?" pressed Rory, her brow furrowing at the news.

"No, just my mother," soothed Logan. Rory visibly relaxed at the news. "And she's promised to play nice. She just wants to meet the new baby Huntzberger."

"Oh," responded Rory, "as long as she promised."

* * *

Charlie's pack and play looked small in the large, new living room of the house. Rory bounced slightly on the new couches they had bought earlier. It astounded Rory how much they had gotten done in a single day; Rory felt like all she had to do was point and suddenly things went from place A to place B. Although the majority of the house was still an empty shell, Rory and Logan had managed to fill the living room with furniture, move Charlie's crib and Rory's bed from the apartment and get Logan a new bed in the course of a single day. She reveled in the power of movers.

Logan was in the kitchen preparing food for their oncoming onslaught of guests. The kitchen was far from done; there was a large gap where furniture would eventually go. The refrigerator was empty except for the multiple bottles of wine and beer squeezed tightly into rows. Logan navigated around the boxes on the floor that were filled with all the dishware from Rory's apartment.

There was a knock at the front door. The person on the other side didn't wait for an answer before entering the house. Rory stood anxiously from the couch in response.

"Kind of small, don't you think?" asked Finn as he walked through the door. He crouched as he moved, as if the ceiling was too low.

"Well you know our Logan – he always insisted size didn't matter," added Colin loudly from his side. Their chatter drew Logan into the living room with two plates full of food.

"Boys," acknowledged Logan with a grin. He put the plates down on the table and patted each of them on the back in turn.

"You stood us up," accused Finn, feigning offense at Logan's recent transgressions.

"We had our suits cleaned and speeches made up," continued Colin dramatically.

"And don't forget those little flower things," added Finn, waving his hand around dramatically to indicate where boutonnieres would have been placed on their suits.

Logan shrugged nonchalantly. "Wasn't meant to be."

"Shame," responded Finn simply.

Colin and Finn turned their attention toward Rory.

"Well, what are you doing just standing there?" questioned Finn. He threw his arms wide. "Get over here!"

Rory walked quickly toward Finn and embraced him. Logan's college friends always had a way of putting her at ease.

"You had a baby?" skeptically stated Colin.

"You're skin and bones," proclaimed Finn. Making a show, he patted Rory down. She swatted his hands away with a laugh as he approached her chest. It astounded her how natural it all felt, like they were back in college. Years apart and it felt like they never skipped a beat.

Finn turned his attention toward the pack and play. "And this must be the baby Logan."

"We usually just call him Charlie." Logan lifted Charlie from his pack and play and held him facing forward to see the new guests.

Finn turned abruptly toward Rory. "Rory, have you considered who the boy's Uncle should be?"

"His Uncle?" responded Rory, baffled.

"I would like to be the baby Logan's Uncle," proclaimed Finn proudly.

"His Uncle?" repeated Rory. She turned to Logan, looking for guidance.

"Finn - " began Logan.

"Every kid needs an Uncle – to bring him toys, sneak him his first drink, bail him out from jail," insisted Finn. "I would make a good Uncle to the baby Logan."

"You want to be his Uncle?" repeated Rory.

"Having a baby really slowed you down," commented Colin with mock pity as Rory repeated the statement for the third time.

"Okay, Finn." Rory laughed.

"Okay?" exclaimed Finn, surprised at how easy it was to earn the title. He obviously had more prepared.

"Well, no to the drinking and jail bail outs," revised Rory.

"Well who is going to bail him out of jail, then?" questioned Colin, feigning concern for Charlie's future.

"Come to Uncle Finny!" exclaimed Finn enthusiastically. Carefully, he took Charlie into his arms from Logan. He bounced him around, jovial with the results of the conversation.

There was a knock at the door. Logan went to answer it and visibly relaxed when he saw who was on their doorstep.

"You didn't come with Mom?" asked Logan. Honor shook her head and hugged her brother.

"I am so angry with you," exclaimed Honor through a smile. She pointed an accusatory finger toward Rory, "And you!"

Honor wasted no time relieving Finn of the baby in his arms. Finn muttered something about 'being an uncle too,' but begrudgingly handed Charlie over. Honor held her face closely to her nephew's, snuggling him closely.

"He's perfect!" Honor directed her statement toward Rory. Charlie smiled and waved his hands like Logan had taught him. He basked in the attention. "Oh, my first nephew."

"How old is he now?" continued Honor, completely enthralled.

"A little less than ten months," answered Rory. She went toward Honor. It had easily been years since she had spoken to her ex-boyfriend's sister, her former friend.

"That's a great age," agreed Honor. "Is he sleeping through the night?"

"Thankfully," Rory responded, nodding. "Logan mentioned you have children? Daughters?"

"Two. They're seven and five," replied Honor. Pride radiated from her; motherhood suited her well. "Josh wants a big family, but he doesn't have to carry them around for nine months."

There was a knock at the door.

"And she has arrived," stated Honor ominously. She looked expectantly toward Logan as he walked toward the door.

"Mom." Logan forced a smile as he opened the door. Mrs. Huntzberger politely hugged her son, but her eyes were searching for someone else. Her face lit up when she saw her grandson in her daughter's arms.

"This is him?" asked Mrs. Huntzberger. She didn't wait for a response as she approached Charlie in Honor's arms.

"Hello, Charlie," cooed Mrs. Huntzberger. She took his small hand in hers. Charlie waved his arms happily. At the sight of her first grandson, she visibly melted.

While Honor and Mrs. Huntzberger crowded Charlie and Rory, Finn and Colin started looking for the beer. Logan directed Colin and Finn toward the kitchen. Instead of following them, he took a seat on the couch. He watched the three women in front of him, deep in thought.

"He looks just like Logan when he was little," gushed Mrs. Huntzberger. "Except for the eyes. Look at those bright blue eyes."

"I brought photos," continued Mrs. Huntzberger. Mrs. Huntzberger fumbled quickly in her purse, revealing a thick envelope stuffed with glossy photos. She offered them hesitantly toward Rory. "For comparison, if you want."

"You brought baby photos of Logan?" exclaimed Honor. She handed Charlie toward Rory in order to snatch the envelope from her mother.

"Like your baby shower, Honor," reminded Mrs. Huntzberger uncomfortably. "Remember how fun it was to compare baby pictures of you and Josh?"

"How embarrassing," corrected Honor. Her attention was fully taken by the photos in her hands.

"Should I be worried?" teased Logan.

Finn handed him a beer, and Logan promptly put it on the table in front of him. Colin followed with wine glasses clanging in his hands; he had a bottle of wine shoved under each arm.

"Don't worry, Logan. I'm setting all the best ones aside," promised Honor through a smug smile.

"Do you have any baby photos?" asked Mrs. Huntzberger. Finn handed her a glass of red wine, which she eagerly accepted. She shifted uncomfortably as she spun her wedding ring on her finger.

"Baby photos?" echoed Rory. She bounced Charlie against her as he began to fuss. His face began to contort as a warning gesture. "My mother probably does. I'm not sure."

"No," disagreed Mrs. Huntzberger, realizing Rory misunderstood her question. "Baby photos of Charlie. From when he was born."

Charlie began to cry. Logan immediately stood.

"Want me to take him?" offered Logan.

"I think he might be hungry," suggested Rory as she simultaneously checked his diaper. "Would you mind making him a bottle?"

"Sure," agreed Logan. He excused himself to the kitchen.

"If you find any baby photos of Charlie," redirected Mrs. Huntzberger over Charlie's growing cries, "would you mind sending me some?"

Rory nodded. "Of course."

"I can't get over how much he looks like Logan," repeated Mrs. Huntzberger.

"Sounds like him too," joked Finn as Charlie's cries continued to grow.

"I'm coming, I'm coming." Logan returned to the living room with a bottle in hand. Rory begrudgingly handed Charlie toward Logan. Logan returned to the couch and put Charlie in his lap. Eagerly, Charlie grabbed at the bottle with both of his hands and threw his head back.

Everyone found seats on the new living room furniture. Logan and Charlie were sandwiched between Rory and Finn on the larger part of a sectional while Colin and Honor continued to mock the photos on the smaller section. Mrs. Huntzberger sat alone on a large chair, her wine quickly disappearing from her glass.

"So why didn't you tell us?" demanded Honor finally, looking expectantly toward Logan. A glass of wine had found its way into her hand.

"I was going to," Logan evenly responded, focusing his full attention on Charlie.

"Odette just beat him to the punch," added Colin. It was unclear which side he was on: Logan's or Honor's.

"I had only just found out," stated Logan diplomatically. His tone was non-accusatory. Rory was surprised he wasn't more defensive and more insistent that it was her that everyone should be frustrated with.

"That's not an excuse," insisted Honor. She held up a photo energetically. "Oh! Look at this one."

Honor passed around a photo of Logan. He was young, maybe four or five. He was decked in a cowboy costume, complete with spurs on his boots, chaps and a hat. He had his hands on a belt over the empty holsters.

"I remember this," recalled Honor. "Logan wore that costume for weeks after Halloween. He kept saying he wanted to grow up to be a cowboy. He begged Mom for a horse for forever."

Mrs. Huntzberger remained silent as the photos continued to be passed around. Logan took it all in stride, showing the photos to Charlie as they came around the circle. Charlie eagerly tried to put them in his mouth.

"This house is wonderful," complimented Honor when the troth of funny pictures ran dry. "Charlie is going to love the backyard. I wish we had a backyard like that."

Logan smiled proudly and looked toward Rory. "It still needs some work – to make it our own."

"So you're living together now?" Mrs. Huntzberger finally spoke.

Rory shifted uncomfortably in the couch; it sounded absurd when Logan's mother put it like that. Logan was unphased.

"It makes the most sense for Charlie," responded Logan diplomatically.

"So what's the plan, Logan?" asked Mrs. Huntzberger. It suddenly became obvious she was on the offensive. Everyone immediately detected the change in tone.

"Mom," warned Logan, shifting forward on the couch.

"Are you two going to get married?" she continued to press.

"I don't think - " interjected Honor, attempting to come to her brother's aid.

"I mean, it would make the most sense for Charlie," insisted Mrs. Huntzberger, speaking over her daughter's protests.

"We talked about this," insisted Logan. His tone grew harsher.

"I'm not saying get married immediately, Logan." Mrs. Huntzberger showed no indication of heeding to her son's warning. "It would look awful if you got married the same week you called off your wedding to another woman. But in the future – the near future - "

"Now isn't the time to talk about this," interrupted Logan, his irritation at the situation beginning to show.

"You need to think about your son," insisted Mrs. Huntzberger, directing her comment toward Logan and Rory. "You need to think about what's best for him."

"We are thinking of what's best for Charlie," insisted Rory, finally finding her words. The accusation stung, but she knew it had little foundation. She impulsively moved into a house with Logan because it was what was best for Charlie.

Mrs. Huntzberger began to explain, "Not getting married means - "

"I think you should go," interrupted Logan. His tone was curt but surprisingly polite.

"Your father and I are worried about you, Logan," redirected Mrs. Huntzberger. Logan stood and moved to the door, indicating she should follow. Mrs. Huntzberger didn't resist any further. She stood and gathered her belongings. As she headed toward the door, she added, "Rory, if you find those photos, please send me copies."

She was gone before Rory could respond.

"Well," began Honor, easily cutting through the tension. "Now that that's been taken care of, who needs more wine?"

The rest of the night went uneventfully. Rory was amazed at how easy it was to be with everyone. They said goodbyes with promises to visit often.

With the door shut behind a drunken Finn, Logan eagerly took Rory's hand.

"I want to show you something." He grabbed the half empty wine bottle and the baby monitor that showed a soundly sleeping Charlie in his crib. He pulled Rory through the house toward the back yard.

The back door opened to a small porch. Logan continued to pull Rory down the few stairs and into the perfectly manicured grass. Rory giggled as the warm dirt squeezed between her toes.

"It's dark," protested Rory, but she continued to follow.

Logan paused toward the back of the yard. In front of them was an old wooden swing. First he checked the baby monitor, and then he placed both the monitor and the bottle of wine on the ground.

"I'll have to fix this," noted Logan, indicating the old age of the swing. "Let's see how strong it still is."

He jumped onto it, standing on the wooden bench. He laughed happily. He bounced up and down while holding onto the chair on one side; the swing did not give way.

"Come on!" encouraged Logan. Rory gingerly took his hand and stood next to him on the wobbly piece of wood. He held onto her so she wouldn't fall.

"We keep saying we're going to talk," stated Logan. When Rory didn't respond, he playfully shook the board, threatening her with the three-foot drop.

Rory shrieked and wiggled away from Logan's grip. Carefully, she sat down and motioned for him to do the same. Logan obliged. She grabbed the bottle of wine from the ground and scooted closer to the man next to her.

"I know," Rory responded simply. Rory looked around her, hardly believing that this was her new home. The night was beautiful. The skies were perfectly clear and the stars shined brightly.

"So let's talk," encouraged Logan.

Rory rested her head on Logan's shoulder. Instinctively, he wrapped his arm around her waist.

"Tomorrow," delayed Rory. "Let's just enjoy this."

* * *

 **A/N: Second to last chapter! Hope you enjoyed it!**


	8. Wednesday

Logan and Rory sat quietly in the living room, each with a cup in front of them. Finally, Rory turned toward Logan and brought her feet onto the couch. Neither wanted to be the first to break the silence.

"So," began Rory, checking her phone for the time. They only had a limited amount of time before Charlie would wake up from his nap. "Let's talk."

"No more delay tactics?" teased Logan. Since he had bought the house and Rory had given notice to discontinue the lease at her apartment at the end of the month, he felt much more at peace with the situation.

"No more delay tactics," agreed Rory solemnly. To talk about it made it feel so much more concrete and definite.

"You're moving in," confirmed Logan slowly, suddenly unsure of where to begin.

Rory nodded. "I'll help with the mortgage. With the publishing date pushed up, I can chip in more."

Logan shook his head dismissively. "You don't need to do that."

"I want to," stated Rory matter-of-factly. After being on her own, it felt strangely difficult to rely on someone else for something as major as shelter. She wanted a stake in the situation.

Logan began to formulate his argument regarding how good of a deal he had gotten on the house and how really it was an investment anyway, but knew it was a losing argument. He nodded, conceding to Rory on the point.

"We'll each be responsible for Charlie," proposed Logan. "Fifty-fifty split."

"He usually comes to work with me," explained Rory. She had never invested in childcare, unless she counted Lorelai coming to watch her son every now and then. "My editors don't mind, and I only go into the city a couple of times a week."

"I'll be able to work from home some," promised Logan. He was in the process of setting everything up with the New York office. With Charlie in his life, he had approached his job with a new perspective that he brought to his job negotiations. Luckily, with the Huntzberger last name, there was only one person who could truly turn down his demands. Although his father had yet to reach out to him after his wedding day disappearance, Mitchum Huntzberger hadn't blocked his move back to the United States. Logan took it as a positive sign. "I'll have some flexibility."

Rory smiled, noticing just how hard Logan was working at all of this.

"Okay," agreed Rory simply. "When Charlie gets a little older, Jess says there are some great preschools in the city. Maybe that would work out well with your job."

Logan's expression soured slightly. "That sounds good. The realtor said that this is supposed to be a good school district."

Rory nodded. Joking, she responded, "I think we have some time."

"I filed the paperwork for the birth certificate on Monday," stated Logan simply, carefully choosing his words. "They said it is going to take a few months to be official. There are some documents you will have to sign, but it should all be taken care of."

Rory shifted on the couch. She put her feet on the flood and then back on the couch, suddenly unable to get comfortable. Finally, she managed to say, "Thank you for doing that."

Logan nodded slightly, thrumming his fingers on the edge of the couch.

"You asked me to dinner," acknowledged Logan finally, a smug smile crept onto his face. With the hectic day of moving in and their guests the day before, the pair had conveniently been able to ignore the elephant in the room.

Rory laughed. "And you kissed me."

"I think you had a role in that too," jokingly accused Logan. His eyes stayed on her, studying her reaction; Rory took her time analyzing the baby monitor, moving the small camera around the crib.

"You said Jess wanted to get dinner, though," stated Logan slowly, his eyes glued on Rory.

She shook her head slightly. "There's nothing there."

"Maybe from your side of things," countered Logan, his confidence growing.

"Maybe there could have been," responded Rory simply. She sighed heavily. "Honestly, I haven't given it much thought."

"Well, think about it," urged Logan pragmatically.

"Why?" asked Rory.

"Why what?" repeated Logan, confused by the shift in the conversation.

"Why do I need to think about it?"

"So you can decide whether to get dinner with him or not," responded Logan. His statement had a distinct lilt to it as if he was asking a question.

"No dinner," replied Rory straightforwardly. She shook her head as if trying to clear her mind. With the way everything had changed in the last week, the decision seemed like the most obvious thing in the world.

This time, Rory leaned into Logan, closing the distance between them. Softly, they kissed. They lingered, eating into the short amount of time that was allotted just for the two of them.

"Everything's so easy with you," commented Logan. He brushed a strand of hair off Rory's face, tucking it behind her ear.

"You don't mean that," disagreed Rory, holding up the baby monitor in front of her for Logan to see. Charlie was curled in a ball in the corner of his crib, sleeping soundly on his stomach.

"I do," insisted Logan. "Everything else may go to hell, but being with you feels easy. Moving back to New York. This house. Living with you and Charlie. It just seems natural."

"Your mother wants us to get married," noted Rory, feeling the sudden need to bring Logan back to reality.

"I'm sorry for that," apologized Logan sincerely. "She promised to behave. I thought maybe in front of everyone and with Charlie she might keep quiet about it."

"And that's how the rest of your family feels too?" asked Rory. She reflected on over a decade ago, when the Huntzbergers proclaimed she would never be good enough for Logan. It seemed illegitimate child trumped career minded woman.

Logan shrugged, obviously not putting much stock in his family's opinions on the matter. He deflected, "Doesn't yours?"

"No," denied Rory quickly, scrunching her face in protest. Truthfully, it had never been an option since Logan was off to be married in London. Her mother wouldn't have encouraged it unless it was what Rory wanted, but she knew her grandmother would have been more comfortable with a married granddaughter. "Why would they?"

"What do you mean?" asked Logan cautiously. It suddenly became apparent to him that he was entering difficult territory.

"I think my family understands that marriage is more than just having a child together," insisted Rory. "My mom didn't marry my dad just because of me. You can raise a child and not be married."

"I don't think anyone would argue about that," defended Logan.

"Then why?" pressed Rory.

"Don't worry, Ace. I'm not looking to do the whole wedding thing again anytime soon."

"But your family is," insisted Rory, caught on the Huntzbergers' opinions.

"They just think it would make the most sense," replied Logan smoothly.

"Because we have a baby together," confirmed Rory.

"It's more than that," defended Logan, unsure why he was being sucked into the argument.

"Because society would frown on it?"

"They want him to have the last name," answered Logan. "They want him to be a part of the family."

"He is a part of the family." Rory pounced at the opening in the Huntzberger logic. "He's their grandchild – whether they want to recognize him or not."

"They do!" exclaimed Logan, exasperated by the line of conversation. "They just wish we'd make it simpler. What does it matter, anyway?"

Rory shrugged, recognizing it didn't really matter. In their early thirties, the pair was passed the point of being forced into decisions made by their parents.

Abruptly, it all fell into place in Rory's mind. They wanted Charlie in the Huntzberger line; they wanted Charlie to be the next Logan, groomed for the family business. Their pride wouldn't allow that to happen with the last name Gilmore.

"It isn't the most outrageous thing in the world," admitted Logan, although the look on Rory's face made him immediately want to retract his statement.

"Getting married just because we had a baby isn't ridiculous? Or so Charlie can be Charles Huntzberger instead of Charles Gilmore?" confirmed Rory, raising her eyebrows at the statement.

"It wouldn't just be because of Charlie," responded Logan, navigating carefully. He teased, trying to make light of situation, "Charles Huntzberger does have a nice ring to it, though."

"Right – to make it 'simpler' and so that Charlie can be an official Huntzberger," snapped Rory.

"No," groaned Logan. "We weren't strangers who suddenly had a kid together. I wanted to marry you once, would it be so outrageous to want to marry you again?"

Rory gawked.

"I'm not proposing, Ace. We were good together. That's all I'm saying," defended Logan, laughing slightly at Rory's blank expression.

"Have you ever thought about how different everything would have been?" finally asked Rory.

"If what?" asked Logan, not following her train of thought.

"If I had said yes – when you had asked at my grand-parents party, at graduation," responded Rory, thinking back to what felt like a lifetime ago.

"More than you know," answered Logan thoughtfully.

"I would have been perpetually sunburnt in California," stated Rory, realizing the dangerous rabbit hole they were going down.

"We would probably still be there," continued Logan. "I wouldn't have gone back to work for my father. Maybe we would be somewhere else with a business of my own."

"I would have always had clean underwear," mused Rory, refusing to think too hard on the situation.

"We found our way back though," stated Logan simply. "We always found an excuse."

"I'd hardly compare sneaking around London with a picturesque happily-ever-after in California," responded Rory pragmatically. She instantly regretted the reference to Odette when Logan's face fell. His guilt was obvious.

"Do you ever regret it?" asked Logan somberly.

"Regret London? Absolutely not."

"Saying no," corrected Logan.

The question took Rory by surprise. "No."

Logan's face was stoic. He nodded slightly.

"Maybe? I wish we hadn't ended the way we did. I regret not being able to travel and write and do everything I wanted to do and be with you too."

"I shouldn't have pushed it," agreed Logan thoughtfully. "There are such things as long engagements, though."

"We were so young, Logan," recalled Rory.

"We're not young anymore," countered Logan.

"What are you saying?" asked Rory, laughing at Logan's implication.

"I want to give this a chance," stated Logan confidently. "A real chance."

"Logan - "

"I've thought about it," insisted Logan. "We're here in this house with Charlie together and we're in a different point in our lives now. I want to try to make this work."

"You've had a difficult week," strategically stated Rory. She didn't want Logan to rush into anything.

"This is what I want, Ace. This is what makes sense to me. At least think about it?" pressed Logan. "I'm not going anywhere."

"I don't need to think about it," declared Rory after a long silence.

Logan nodded his head slowly and stiffened automatically. He tried to hide his disappointment. "I understand."

"I want to try this," clarified Rory, "but I don't want to rush anything."

Logan laughed at the irony of the situation. "Let's just take our time figuring it out while we raise our child together."

"I'm serious," insisted Rory, although she couldn't help but laugh at the absurdity of it all. "You were supposed to get married a few days ago, Logan. You didn't know you had a son until a week ago. We've changed a lot since Yale."

"We're the same," countered Logan. "We've just grown up some."

A shriek came from the baby monitor, followed by happy babbling.

"Mamamamama!" called Charlie. Rory could see him banging on the crib from the monitor.

"Back to work," joked Rory. She passed Logan the monitor to see their son's antics as she stood from the couch.

"Dadadadada!" exclaimed Charlie, enunciating each syllable with a hit against his mattress.

"Sounds like he wants his Dad," commented Rory with a smile.

Logan got up from the couch and raced up the stairs, beaming the whole way.

* * *

 **A/N: Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed this short little story. :)**


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